IELTs Academic Writing Time-Management
Writing Task 1 How much time should you allow for this part of the exam? _______ Time Used 1. Start exam 2. Read Question 4. Introduction 5. Write Body 7. Conclusion 8. Grammar Check Time Left Task
Writing Task 2 How much time should you allow for this part of the exam? _______ Time Used 1. Start exam 2. Read Question 3. Mind map / plan 4. Introduction 5. Write Body 6. Finish Body 7. Conclusion 8. Grammar Check Time Left Task
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Teacher’s Notes Lesson Idea BEFORE LESSON: Make sure students have calculators 1. Get students to practice a real IELTs exam under exam timings. 2. Then discuss how they felt the exam went, did they feel they had enough time. 3. Get students in groups to discuss the timings of the exam and report back to the class. 4. Put the timings up on the blackboard to see how students timings differ. 5. Make sure the timings add up to 1 hour. Even if the students don’t all agree about timings (and they don’t have to) it gets them thinking about the time they’ve got in the exam. I encourage all my students to memorise their preferred timings, so they don’t have to think about them in the exam. (I test their memory in a quiz later) Suggested Timings I’d suggest discussing the timing of these exams with students and adjust these timings as needed, but I find in most of my classes these timings are about right and give the students the best chance of completing the exam. What I’ve given below are the suggested timings and the reasons behind them. Writing Task 1 Hopefully you will be able to get the students to a point where they can do task 1 on auto-pilot, because they will need every second left to complete task 2. Time Used 1. Start exam 2. Read Question 3. Introduction 4. Write Body 5. Conclusion 6. Grammar Check Procedure 1. Start of exam 2. I’d suggest a longer reading time for question 1, because the students have to analyse the graph. 3. A simple rewording of the question will be enough of an introduction. 4. Writing the body, this is where the bulk of the time is spent. Smart students may be able to do this in 7 minutes. (Remind students that they are NOT to include their own opinions.) 5. Conclusion, a simple 1 sentence conclusion. 6. Check grammar carefully. Students may prefer to check grammar at the end of the complete exam. 0 5 7 16 18 20 Time Left 20 15 13 4 2 0 Task 0 5 2 9 2 2
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Timetable Time Used 1. Start exam 2. Read Question 3. Mind map 4. Introduction 5. Write Body 6. Finish Body 7. Conclusion 8. Grammar Check Procedure 1. Start of Exam. 2. Spend 2 minutes reading the question, make sure you read it at least 3 times and fully understand it. This also gives students a chance to settle their minds and begin to think about how they’re going to answer the question. 3. Spend 3 minutes making Mind-maps (Or other forms of notes) 4. Spend 2 minutes writing an introduction, normally rewording the question. 5. Write the main body of the exam. 6. Finish the paragraph/sentence being worked on. 7. Skim what has been written and write a quick conclusion. 8. Spend five minutes checking the grammar. 0 2 5 7 31 33 35 40 Time Left 40 38 35 33 9 7 5 0 Task 0 2 3 2 24 2 2 5
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